SECI Chief R P Gupta Steps Down, Successor Yet To Be Named

In a move seen as a surprise by many, the head of India’s top renewable energy impIementing agency, Solar Energy Corporation of India, (SECI), R.P Gupta,   has stepped down as the chairman of  SECI with immediate effect, as announced by the government on Saturday. Gupta as just a month away from winding up his tenure as the Chairman, making the move an abrupt and as yet unexplained one from the government.

Gupta had joined SECI after a stint at the Ministry of environment in June 2023, besides stints at NITI Aayog, Ministry of Coal etc. He presided over a rocky period in SECI’s history. Most notably, US prosecutors had named SECI for its role in a deal involving the Adani group’s PPAs with SECI linked to power purchases by the Andhra Pradesh Government. The US accusations surfaced last year, and the issue is yet to be closed, though most people expect it to die a natural death considering the limited interest of the new administration in following up such matters. The deal was signed before Gupta became Chairman. For the nine months ended December 2024, SECI under Gupta recorded a revenue growth of just under 15% at Rs 3226 crores, versus Rs 2808 crores in the same period last year. The firm is profitable, with a profit of Rs 107 crores during this period.

What has definitely happened since 2023 is a pile up of awarded tenders that have struggled to find buyers, or PSAs with discoms. While the Andhra Pradesh case was just one where after a ling delay, a deal could be signed to allow the projects to move ahead, even presently, SECI has a sizeable pipeline of awarded projects where it is seeking PSAs. A recent shift towards more storage based tenders that seek to provide renewable energy for longer periods of an extra 2 hours to 4 hours has also not helped, as discoms continue to have their own red lines on what they can or will pay for solar energy.

Gupta’s successor will find his/her work cut out, in trying to clear up this massive backlog of projects, besides managing the ever larger portfolio of SECI where it is the intermediary. An IPO announced by Gupta is also on the horizon, although the size and timing of the IPO is yet to be finalised.